Hi, I’ve asked this question on another thread so sorry for banging on about it. It has preyed on my mind.
I’d like to know what polite yet assertive response it is possible to give to a man using a women’s toilet in say, a shop, theatre or other public place. For instance: ‘ This is the womens toilet, could you please go elsewhere so I can use a single sex facility’?
I have myself been in the position of encountering a man, alone, in an open plan changing room. I frightened, embarrassed, undignified, intruded upon, and angry, and flung on my clothes in the locked toilet cubicle, then rushed off, leaving him alone in the changing room that said ‘women’ on the door.
Next time this happens I’d like to say something, but what? What would you say?
Work is of course a completely different issue. Any HR people on here, what can a woman say in this position without endangering her livelihood? (We’ve had guidance at work to the effect that men can use the women’s toilets if they feel female.)
Please note that I have deliberately not used the word transwoman in this post. If I meet a man in the ladies I will have no idea of how he classifies himself, or any interest in this question. I’ll just know he is a man. So that is what my question focuses on, men, as a biological class, whether bearded and in biker gear or coiffured and in make up, whether trans or non-binary identifying or anything else. Men, in the women’s toilet.